Ryman Appoints New Director

Leading aged care and retirement village operator Ryman Healthcare today announced that Mr Warren Bell has been appointed to the Board of Directors as a non-executive independent director.

Mr Bell is an experienced public and private company director, and was previously an audit partner with Deloitte. He is currently chairman of Hallenstein Glasson and St Georges Hospital, and is a director of a number of private companies.

"We are delighted that Warren has accepted our invitation," said chairman Dr David Kerr. "He has a very strong audit background and has considerable experience in the Australian marketplace through his involvement with Hallenstein Glasson."

Mr Bell steps into the vacancy which arose on the death of Mr Michael Cashin late last year.

Ryman currently owns 22 villages nationwide, which each offer a combination of retirement living and resthome care. The villages are all designed, built and operated by Ryman.

The company plans to open new villages in Dunedin, Gisborne, Tauranga and Christchurch. It has a landbank of just under 2,000 units and beds in New Zealand and is actively seeking a site for its first village in Australia.

The company is a six times winner of Best Retirement Village in New Zealand, serves over 5,000 elderly New Zealanders and employs over 2,500 staff.